Truvada, a brand name for a cocktail of emtricitabine and tenofovir, is a daily oral prophylactic medication which has been found to be highly effective at preventing the uninfected from catching HIV. Now, a new drug is being tested which could provide the same protection in a way that’s more convenient and would be easier for people to use:
Cabotegravir is an integrase inhibitor—meaning that it works by stopping hiv copying its genome into the chromosomes of its host cells, an important stage in its life cycle. Unlike Truvada, which must be taken daily, by mouth, prophylactic cabotegravir is delivered as an injection once every two months.
In combination with the antiretroviral (ARV) drug rilpivirine, cabotegravir may also allow those who are already infected with HIV to be treated with periodic infections rather than multiple daily pills.
Could make eradication of the disease possible with universal availability.
That is a great advance. Do you know how much the treatment costs? Would it be affordable for the people who need it the most and who have the least resources?